Longhorns come up short one more time

By Mike Finger :
January 28, 2012
: Updated: January 28, 2012 9:25pm

Baylor's Perry Jones III (1) goes up for a backward layup as Texas's Julien Lewis (0) and Jonathan Holmes (10) defend in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, in Waco.

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WACO — The ball spun off the rim with 10 seconds still left on the clock Saturday, and Texas coach Rick Barnes threw up his arms. Exasperated by another wasted late-game opportunity, all he could do was scold the player who he thought shot too soon, and from too far away.

“Coach said it wasn't (a good shot),” Brown said of his potential game-tying 3-point attempt. “But he didn't see what I saw.”

After the Longhorns' 76-71 loss to No. 6 Baylor at the Ferrell Center, however, the view was indisputable. Once again, UT failed to make the shots, the decisions or the defensive plays it needed in the final minutes of a close game, and once again a possible season-saving victory slipped away.

Brown scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half and was the main man responsible for the Longhorns erasing a 12-point deficit and pulling into a 66-66 tie with 2:52 remaining.

But just as in UT's other closing-time shortfalls, neither Brown nor his teammates could lift the Longhorns over the top. This time, Brown pulled up for a shot from 24 feet with UT trailing by three points with more than 10 seconds remaining. A rebound of the miss by Perry Jones III sealed another tight victory for Baylor (19-2, 6-2 Big 12).

Jones, occasionally criticized for a lack of aggression, lived up to his NBA lottery-pick billing against the Longhorns, amassing 22 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. But in front of a crowd of 10,299 — just the second advance sellout in the history of the Bears' program — Baylor let UT (13-8, 3-5) hang around in large part due to carelessness.

The Bears turned the ball over 18 times, leading to a 20-4 Longhorns edge in points off turnovers. In the end, though, Baylor played like the team with a clearer idea of how to win. UT is 0-6 in games decided by six points or fewer. Baylor is 5-1 in those situations, and coach Scott Drew said that background made Saturday's outcome no coincidence.

“It gives you a confidence that you can win a close game,” Drew said.

Barnes insisted after the game that the Longhorns don't lack that confidence, but Brown admitted the repeated late losses have been frustrating.

“When we got into the locker room, it (was) terrible,” Brown said.

But Brown was anything but terrible during a 14-2 run midway through the second half. With Baylor's zone collapsing upon him, he scored driving to the basket and on a pull-up baseline jumper, then tied the score on a step-back 3-pointer from the corner. Later, he tied it again on a closely guarded 3-pointer from the wing.

“J'Covan was special,” Drew said. “We didn't have an answer for him. ... Fortunately for us he hit a lot, but not one more.”